Major Sir John Hubert Ward, (20 March 1870 – 2 December 1938) was a British army officer and courtier.

Early life

Ward was the second son of

William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (27 March 1817 – 7 May 1885), known as The Lord Ward from 1835 to 1860, was a British landowner and benefactor. Background and education Ward was born on 27 March 1817 at Edwardstone, Boxford, Suffolk, Engl ...

by his wife Georgina Elizabeth née Moncreiffe. His paternal grandfather was

William Humble Ward, 10th Baron Ward William Humble Ward, 10th Baron Ward (1781 – December 6, 1835) was a clergyman who succeeded to the Dudley Barony. He was the son of Humble and Susannah Ward. He was the father of William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley. References {{DEFAU ...

and his maternal grandfather was

Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, 7th Baronet Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, 7th Baronet (9 January 1822 – 16 August 1879) was a Scottish first-class cricketer and British Army officer. The son of Sir David Moncreiffe and his wife, Helen Mackay, he was born at Moncreiffe House in Perthshi ...

. Following his father's death in 1885, his brother, William Humble Ward, succeeded as the 2nd Earl of Dudley. His other siblings included Robert Ward, a member of parliament for Crewe. All six sons of the 1st Earl received half a million dollars upon their father's death. Ward was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

Career

He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Worcestershire Yeomanry (The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars) on 11 January 1900, and served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

1900–1901, as an aide to Major Gen. John Palmer Brabazon. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

, and later fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and gained the rank of major. In 1901, Ward was the Assistant Private Secretary to the

Financial Secretary to the War Office The Financial Secretary to the War Office and for certain periods known as the Finance Member of the Army Council, was a junior ministerial office of the British government established in 1870. In May 1947 the office was unified with that of the ...

Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, (4 April 1865 – 4 February 1948), styled Mr Edward Stanley until 1886, then The Hon Edward Stanley and then Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British soldier, Conservative politician, ...

. Ward served as an Equerry to four successive British monarchs. He was appointed Equerry to King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

28 February 1902, and served until the King's death in 1910. He was then an Extra Equerry to King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

1910–1936, to King Edward VIII in 1936, and to King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

from 1937 until the following year, when he died.

Personal life

Ward's engagement to

Jean Templeton Reid Jean Templeton Ward, Lady Ward CBE DStJ ( Reid; 13 July 1884 – 1 May 1962) was an American-born philanthropist and society hostess. The only daughter of Whitelaw Reid, the American Ambassador to the United Kingdom, she lived in London after ...

(1884–1962) was announced in April 1908. She was the daughter of

Whitelaw Reid Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 – December 15, 1912) was an American politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of ''Ohio in the War'', a popular work of history. After assisting Horace Greeley as editor of the ''New-York Tribu ...

, American ambassador to the United Kingdom, sister of

Ogden Mills Reid Ogden Mills Reid (May 16, 1882 – January 3, 1947) was an American newspaper publisher who was president of the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Early life Reid was born on May 16, 1882 in Manhattan. He was the son of Elisabeth ( née Mills) Reid ( ...

, a New York publisher, the granddaughter of

Darius Ogden Mills Darius Ogden Mills (September 25, 1825 – January 3, 1910) was a prominent American banker and philanthropist. For a time, he was California's wealthiest citizen. Early life Mills was born in North Salem, in Westchester County, New York ...

, an American financier, and the niece of Ogden Mills, a prominent New York Society man. Ward and Reid met through George Holford, also equerry-in-waiting to the King. On 23 June 1908, the 38-year-old Ward married Reid at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace in a ceremony attended by King

and

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 t ...

. The wedding was celebrated at

Dorchester House Dorchester House was a mansion in Park Lane, Westminster, London, which has had many different forms over time. The last version used as a private residence was that built in 1853 by Robert Stayner Holford. It was demolished in 1929 to make way ...

, and was one of the greatest society events of the year. Together, the couple had two sons: * Edward John Sutton Ward, (1909–1990), who married Margaret Susan Corbett (d. 1981) in 1934. After her death, he married Marion Elizabeth Jessie Clover (d. 1997), the former wife of

William Romilly, 4th Baron Romilly William Gaspard Guy Romilly, 4th Baron Romilly (8 March 1899 – 29 June 1983) was a British hereditary peer. Early life He was the only child of John Romilly, 3rd Baron Romilly and the former Violet Edith Grey-Egerton (1870–1906). Of Huguen ...

, in 1986. His godfather was King Edward VII. * Alexander Reginald Ward (1914–1987), a Justice of the Peace for Berkshire between 1941 and 1947, who married Ilona Hollos in 1946. They divorced in 1959 and he married Zena Moyra Marshall in 1967. They divorced 1969 and he married Constance Cluett Sage. He was one of the founders of

Chilton Aircraft Chilton Aircraft Ltd was a British aircraft design and manufacturing company of the late 1930s and 1940s. Foundation The company was founded in early 1937 by two former de Havilland Technical School students and Old Etonians, the Hon. Andrew ...

. The Wards had a country estate, known as Chilton, in

Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...

, Berkshire. Ward died at his home, Dudley House in London, on 2 December 1938. Lady Ward died in 1962.

Awards and honours

He was decorated with the award of the Officer of French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, Commander of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

of Spain, Commander of the Order of Zähringer Löwen of Baden, and Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog of Denmark. Ward was also invested as a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and as an Officer of the

Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of c ...

References

External links

Photograph of Sir John Hubert Ward; Hon. Robert Arthur Ward
by

Henry Peach Robinson Henry Peach Robinson (9 July 1830, Ludlow, Shropshire – 21 February 1901, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent) was an English pictorialist photographer best known for his pioneering combination printing - joining multiple negatives or prints to form ...

, c. 1870s {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Sir John Hubert 1870 births 1938 deaths People educated at Eton College Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Officers of the Order of St John Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog Worcestershire Yeomanry officers Younger sons of earls John Hubert